Experience the delightful taste of Mary Berry’s classic Bakewell tart, a treat that will brighten up any day. This decadent dessert features a delicious raspberry jam filling, a creamy almond frangipane, and a signature feathered icing. Join us as we embark on a culinary journey to create this timeless dessert in the comfort of your home.
Firstly, let’s gather the ingredients for our Bakewell tart. For the raspberry jam, we’ll need 200 grams of fresh raspberries and 250 grams of jam sugar. For the shortcrust pastry, we’ll use 225 grams of plain flour, 150 grams of chilled butter, 25 grams of icing sugar, and one large beaten egg. The filling requires 150 grams of softened butter, 150 grams of caster sugar, 150 grams of ground almonds, one large beaten egg, and one teaspoon of almond extract. Finally, for the icing, we’ll use 300 grams of icing sugar, one teaspoon of almond extract, and pink food colouring gel.
Begin by preparing the raspberry jam. In a small saucepan, crush the raspberries and add the jam sugar. Bring to a boil over low heat, stirring occasionally. Once the sugar has melted, increase the heat and boil for four minutes. Remove from heat and pour into a shallow container to cool and set.
Moving on to the shortcrust pastry, combine the flour, butter, and icing sugar in a bowl. Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the beaten egg and two tablespoons of cold water and mix until a soft dough forms. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to the thickness of a pound coin. Line the prepared fluted flan tin with the pastry and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Line the pastry case with non-stick baking paper and fill with baking beans or uncooked rice. Bake blind for 15 minutes, then remove the beans and paper and bake for a further five minutes to dry out the base. Set aside to cool slightly.
Now, let’s prepare the almond frangipane filling. In a bowl, cream together the softened butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy. Add the ground almonds, beaten egg, and almond extract and mix well. Spread the raspberry jam evenly over the cooled pastry base and top with the almond frangipane filling. Smooth the surface using a palette knife.
Reduce the oven temperature to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and bake for 25-35 minutes, or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely in the tin.
Finally, let’s create the feathered icing. Sift the icing sugar into a bowl and stir in the almond extract and three tablespoons of cold water until a smooth, thick icing forms. Divide the icing into two bowls. In one bowl, add a little pink food colouring gel to create a raspberry-coloured icing.
Spoon the white icing over the cooled tart and spread to form a smooth surface. Transfer the pink icing to a piping bag fitted with a small plain nozzle. Pipe parallel lines of pink icing over the white icing. Using a cocktail stick, drag through the lines to create a feathered effect. Leave to set and serve in slices.
